Lawsuit: IMPD officers fatally shot unarmed man

The family of an Indianapolis man fatally shot by police sued the city and numerous other defendants Thursday in a civil rights lawsuit claiming he was unarmed, unjustifiably shot in the back, and the victim of a police cover-up.

The estate of Donte Lamont Sowell, 27, sued, and family members gathered Thursday for a news conference to announce the suit filed by renowned Chicago civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law.

The suit also alleges the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department “has a long history of unjustified police shootings and other use of force violations.” Loevy & Loevy said in a statement that Indianapolis suffers nearly as many police shootings as New York, whose population is about 10 times larger.

Sowell was shot and killed near his home in the Amber Woods Housing Cooperative on the city’s northeast side on Jan. 15. 2015. Police pulled over a car driven by Sowell’s brother in what the suit claims was an illegal stop a couple of blocks from the co-op.

When Sowell’s brother pulled into a gas station at 38th Street and Mitthoeffer Road, Sowell was alarmed by the stop and ran from the car toward his home, the suit alleges. Police found nothing illegal in the search of the car.

“As Mr. Sowell ran into Amber Woods, one or more Defendant Officers and one or more Defendant Security Guards began shooting at Mr. Sowell, who had done nothing to justify this use of deadly force,” the suit claims.

“Mr. Sowell surrendered, but the Defendant Officer(s) and Defendant Security Guard(s) continued to shoot at him, coordinating their efforts.”

A spokesperson for IMPD Thursday referred calls seeking comment to the city’s Office of Corporation Counsel. A representative in the city’s legal department said the city hadn’t yet received a copy of the suit and could not comment.

Police claimed Sowell shot at them before deadly force was used – an assertion Sowell’s lawsuit rejects.

“Mr. Sowell’s many gunshot wounds confirm that he was shot from behind. Witnesses confirm that he was unarmed and had surrendered to police at the time he was killed,” Sowell family attorney Ruth Brown said in a statement.  

“To cover up their misconduct, the Defendants falsely claimed that Mr. Sowell had shot at them. In actuality, all of the shooting was perpetrated by various defendants,” the suit argues.

The suit also alleges police have withheld video recordings of the event or refused to confirm whether such video existed. The suit notes officers involved may have been wearing body cameras and video from nearby businesses or cellphone users also may exist.

“When IMPD finally considered the merits of Plaintiff’s request, it claimed an entitlement to withhold responsive recordings pursuant to the ‘investigatory records’ exemption in the Indiana Access to Public Records Act,” the suit said.

The suit lists 20 counts alleging violation of state and federal law, including claims of excessive force, false arrest, denial of medical attention after Sowell was shot, and state law claims for wrongful death and multiple other alleged violations.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and will be transferred to the Southern District. The case in the Northern District is Rachel Long, as Administrator for the Estate of Donte Lamont Sowell v. City of Indianapolis, et al., 1:15-cv-00252.